Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-09-09


| make ready.
The quiet dawn began to throw her ever
| widening mantle over plain and forest and
river; mighty Kenia, wrapped in the silence
! of eternal SHOWS, looked out across the
| earth, till presently beam from the un,
| risen sun lit upon his heaven-kissing crest
| and purpled it with blood; the sky above
| grew blue. and tender as mothers smile:
bird began TO pipe his morning song, and
| a little breeze passing through the bush
| shook down the dewdrops in millions TO
refresh the waking world. Eyerywhere
| was peace and the happiness of arising
| strength, everywhere save in the heart OF
| cruel man! Suddenly, just as | was nery-
| ing myself for the signal, having already
| selected my man on whom / meant to open
| fire-a great fellow sprawling on the
| ground within three feet of little Flossie-
| Alphonse's teeth began to chatter again
| like the hoofs of a galloping giraffe, max
| ing great noise in the silence. His rag
| had dropped out in the agitation of his
mind. Instantly a Nasal within three
PAGES of US woke, and sitting up, began to
| gaze about him, looking for the cause of
| the sound. Moved beyond myself, | brought
| the butt-end OF my rifle down on to the pit
Of the Frcnchman's stomach. This stopped
his chattering; but, as he doubled up, he
| managed to let off his gun in such a man
ner that the bullet passed within an inch
| of my head
There was no need for signal now
| From both sides of the kraal broke out a
waving line of fire, in which l myself
| joined, managing with snap shot to knock
over my Nasal by Flossie, just as he was
| jumping up. Then from the top end of
| the kraal there rose an awful yell, in which
| rejoiced to recognize Goods piercing note
rising clear and shrill above the din, and
in another second followed such a scene as
had never seen before, and never shall
see again. With a unanimous howl of
terror and fury, the brawny crowd of saw
| ages within the krual sprung to their feet,
many OF them to fall again beneath our
weIl-directed hail OF lead before they had
moved yard. For moment they stood
undecided; and then, hearing the cries and
| curses that rose increasingly from the top
end of the kraal, and bewilGered by the
storm of bullets, yhey as by one impulse
rushed down toward the thorn-stopped en-
trance. AS they went, we kept pouring
our fire with terrible effect into the thick
ening mob as fast we could load. | had
emptied my repeater of the ten shots it con-
tanned, and was just beginning to slip in
some more, when | bethought me of little
FloSsie. Looking up, saw that the white
donkey was lying kicking, having been
Knocked over either by one of our bullets
or Nasal spear-thrIst There We're no
living Nasal near, but the black nurse was
| on her feet, and was cutting with a spear
the rope that bound FlOssies feet Next
second she ran to the wall of the kraal, and
began to climb over it, an example which
the little girl followed. But FlOsSic was
evidently very stiff and cramped, and
could only go slowly; and as she went two
Nasal flying down the kraal caught sight
of her and rushed toward her to kill her
The first fellow came up j.: t as the poor
little girl, after desperate effort to climb
the wall, fell back into the krlal Up
flashed the great spear, and as il did 50
bullet from my rifle found its home in the
holders ribs, and over he went like a shot
rabbit But behind him was the other
man, and, alas, | had only that one cart
ridge in the magazine, Flossie had Scram-
bled TO her feet and was facing the second
man, who was advancing with raised spear
| turned my head aside and felt az sick as
death. | could not bear to see him stab
her. CHANGING up again, to my surprise
saw the Masai's spear lying on the ground,
while the man himself was staggering
about with both hands TO his head. Sud
denly saw puff of smoke, proceeding APP
parently from Flossie, and the man fell
down headlOng. Then | remembered the
Derringer pistol she carried, and saw that
she had fired both barrels of it at him,
thereby saving her life. In another instant
she had made an effort and, assisted by
the nurse, who was lying on the top, had
!,
she was, comparatively speaking, safe.
All this takes some time to tell. but do
not suppose that ii took more than fifteen
seconds to enact. | soon got the chamber
OF the repeater filed again with cartridges
and once more opened fire; not on the
seething black mass which was gathering
at the end of the kraal but on fugitives
who bethought them to climb the wall
pick off several of these men, moving down
toward the end of the kraal as | did So
and arriving ut the corner, or rather the
bend of the oval, in time to see, and, by
means of my rifle, to assist in the mighty
struggle chat took place there.
By this time some two hundred Nasal
allowing that we had up to the present &C
counted for fifty-had gathered together
in front of the thorn-stopped entrance,
driven thither by the spears of Goods men,
whom they doubtless supposed were large
force instead of being but ten strong. For
some reason it never occurred to them to
try and rush the wall, which they could
have scrambled over with comparative
ease; they all made for the fence, which
was really strongly interviewer fortifica-
ton. With bound the first warrior went
at it, and even before he touched the
ground on the other side | saw Sir Henrys
great AK swing up and fall with awful
force upon his feather head piece, and he
fell into the middle of the thorns. Then,
with shrek and crash, they began to
break through somehow, and ever as they
came the great AK swung, and Inkosikaasi
flashed, and they fell dead ono by one each
man helping to build up a barrier against
his fellows Those who escaped the axes
of the pair fell at the hands of the Askari
and the two mission Kafirs and those who
passed scathless from them fell beneath
my own and Macllenzies fire.
Faster and more furious grew the fight
ing. Single Nasal would spring upon the
dead bodies of their comrades, and engage
one or the other of the aXmen with their
long spears; but, thanks chiefly to the mail
shirts, the result was always the same.
presently Jncre was Il great swing OF the
AK, sound of crashing bones, and another
dead Nasal. That is, if the man was en-
gagged with Sir Henry. If it was Umslop-
ogaas that he fought with, the result in
deed would be the same, but it would be
differently attained. 1t was but rarely
that the Zulu used the crashing double
handed stroke; on the contrary, he did lit
tie more than tap continually at his adver-
sary's head pecking at it with the pole-ax
end of the AK as woodpecker CAS- | think
| have already SAID, one of Umslopogaas'
Zulu names was the "Woodpccker." !
could never make out why he was called
50 until | saw him in action with Inkosi-
| kaasi, when | at once recognized the re
semblance.-A. O. pecks at rotten wood.
Presently peck would go home, and his
| enemy would drop down with neat little
circular hole in his forehead or skull, ex-
actly similar to that which q cheese-scoop
| makes in a cheese. He never used the
broad blade of the ax except when hard
pressed, or when striking at shield. He
told me afterward that he did not consider
| it sportsmanlike.
Good and his men were quite close now,
| and our people had to cease firing into the
mass for fear of killing some of them las it
was, one of them was killed in this way).
| Mad and desperate with fear, the Nasal by
| a frantic effort, burst through the thorn
| fence and piled-up dead, and, sweeping
| Curtis, Umslopogaas, and the other three